The smart robot quickly replaced the tray with a new one, containing the food Qin Wuyue had just brought back.
Lin Yu’s gaze fell on her slender, fair fingers. It was hard to imagine that these hands had just done something so outrageous.
Qin Wuyue sliced her bacon with elegant movements, unhurriedly picking up a piece and placing it in her mouth to chew slowly.
Lin Yu watched her, completely dazed.
Wasn’t she clearly about to enter story-telling mode? Why was she putting on airs again?
Beside them, Xia Yanran also looked at Qin Wuyue with anticipation; she was genuinely interested.
However, she felt her mother was acting quite normal now—or rather, she was used to her mother being this way.
Her mother had always left her with an impression of being dignified, gentle, intellectual, and elegant. She had never seen her flustered…
Actually, that wasn’t quite right. She seemed to have seen it once recently.
As she thought about this, her gaze landed on Lin Yu, her eyes filled with a trace of dissatisfaction.
Lin Yu was even more confused by her look. ‘What did I do now? What’s with that look?’
Under the table, he kicked the tip of Xia Yanran’s shoe and signaled her with his eyes to hurry her mother along.
Xia Yanran understood his meaning. She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes at him, but she still spoke up.
“Mom, keep telling the story.”
Qin Wuyue glanced at the two of them. She had seen their exchange of looks perfectly clearly.
However, she had her own plans.
She picked up a napkin and wiped the corners of her mouth, even though nothing was there, then looked at Lin Yu with a mysterious expression.
“Are you curious, Yu?”
Lin Yu opened his mouth. ‘Isn’t that obvious?’ But of course, he couldn’t say that out loud.
“Of course, Aunt Qin. Don’t leave us hanging. Look, Yanran is waiting to hear it too.”
The corners of Qin Wuyue’s lips curled up. With a tone carrying a hint of nostalgia, she slowly began to speak.
“The Five Schools Joint Exercise is a joint exercise between the five Nest City high schools. It is held every three years.”
“Every student in the Academy will experience it at least once, and some might even go through it twice…”
Lin Yu knew what the Five Schools Joint Exercise was, but he really didn’t know much about his sister’s time at school.
After all, that was many years ago. He had never asked, and his sister had never brought it up.
Come to think of it, the next exercise would take place shortly after he entered the Domed Academy. It was considered a freshman assessment that relied somewhat on luck.
Each of the five academies sent three teams of five people. In a randomized environment, they would engage in a flag-capture match.
The three participating teams weren’t designated by the Academy; instead, students would form their own teams and sign up voluntarily.
The teams were selected through internal competitions to represent the Academy.
Mu Liuli was also outed as an Ability User because someone had dragged her into participating in this, which led to Xia Yanran finding out and Mu Liuli starting to give up on herself.
In his past life, Lin Yu hadn’t participated in the exercise because he wanted to accompany Xia Yanran.
“Speaking of which, it’s been nearly 10 years since Mowei participated in that exercise. Time really flies.”
Qin Wuyue rested her chin on one hand, looking at Lin Yu with a smile.
This child had grown so big, yet back then, he was only a little thing.
Being stared at like that, Lin Yu subconsciously swallowed his saliva. He felt like this woman was up to no good again.
“Actually, there is a customary unspoken rule among the five high schools.”
“Hmm?” Xia Yanran blinked, voicing a cute question. “What kind of rule?”
Lin Yu thought for a moment and realized it immediately. Qin Wuyue quickly voiced exactly what he was thinking.
“Although the five schools are in a competitive relationship, in the current situation, they must remain united as one family.”
“So, no matter who wins, they won’t make the opposition’s loss look too humiliating.”
“Don’t tell me…” Lin Yu frowned and interrupted. “My sister?”
Qin Wuyue nodded. “Exactly. Your sister didn’t like that. She felt that giving her all was the greatest respect she could show an opponent.”
“Tch…” Lin Yu clicked his tongue. Theoretically, that was true, but it depended on the situation.
“That year, your sister led her team to a complete victory with an overwhelming posture. Of course, her opponents lost quite miserably.”
“Lan Lan had a real headache over that back then. Haha.”
As if remembering the scene, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Then what happened with Gu?”
“Oh, her? That child was on the opposing team at the time. Three years later, after your sister graduated, little Xi-er defeated the Domed Academy’s team the same way.”
“That was how their grudge was formed.”
“Then doesn’t that mean she violated the unspoken rule too?” Xia Yanran discovered a loophole.
Lin Yu shook his head. “Gu probably just didn’t give the Domed Academy any face. She likely held back against the other schools.”
“It wasn’t a complete violation. In fact, the other schools probably had to thank her.”
“You seem to understand quite a lot, Yu.” Qin Wuyue’s appreciative gaze held an inexplicable thought.
Hearing her mother praise Lin Yu, Xia Yanran pursed her lips. She felt a bit jealous while also feeling a bit happy. In short, it was very contradictory.
“Just a little, just a little…” Lin Yu chuckled dryly. This silly girl didn’t understand anything and had to have him explain it. He really should have kept his mouth shut.
“Oh, right.” Qin Wuyue seemed to remember something, her face showing a hint of pride.
“Because of that, your sister earned a title back then at the Domed Academy.”
“What was it?”
“The Flawless Valkyrie.”
In her heart, she actually agreed with Lin Mowei’s approach. Winning was winning, and losing was losing. All that other nonsense was boring.
Besides, Lin Mowei was practically raised by her. It was impossible not to feel a bit of pride.
“At that time, it was because she had never been defeated. Now, the title refers to how no personnel ever die when she goes on a mission.”
“Plus, her mission completion rate is 100%.”
Xia Yanran’s eyes widened slightly. “Zero deaths is just too exaggerated…”
Lin Yu didn’t say anything this time, but he knew that what Qin Wuyue said was true.
He knew his sister’s fighting style. Combined with her ability, achieving a zero-death scenario was entirely possible.
*
“Clear the way ahead!”
As Lin Mowei spoke, her Long Blade severed a claw that was about to slice Xin Yao’s throat.
The moment she landed, she used her left leg as a pivot and delivered a reverse side kick with her right leg.
She slammed her foot into the lunging Rift Beast, sending it flying 15 meters away from the defensive line.
Then, with a boom, it exploded.
Lying on the ground, Xin Yao stared blankly at the figure wearing Biological Armor.
Every set of Biological Armor was unique. Even without the voice, she knew who was inside.
“Mo… Mowei?”
After seeing Lin Mowei arrive, the surrounding people felt a sense of relief, and their morale soared.
Inside the command vehicle, Mu Qingqing suddenly collapsed into her chair, drawing looks from the nearby personnel.
“Thank goodness, the Chief finally arrived…”
Ever since the Rift Beasts began self-detonating, her brain had almost fried. The pressure was greater than a mountain.
Upon seeing Lin Mowei, she issued an order.
“All units, cooperate with the Chief’s actions in a moment.”
This was clearly against regulations, but she didn’t care even if she were criticized later. The current situation was urgent.
Lin Mowei’s helmet faced Xin Yao. The voice coming from within carried a hint of lingering fear.
“I’m glad I made it in time. Are you okay, Sister Xin Yao?”
She knelt down to briefly check Xin Yao’s injuries and immediately called for logistical rescue on the channel.
As Xin Yao was being taken away, she stared intensely at Mowei’s back, then slowly closed her eyes and let out a long sigh in her heart.
Lin Mowei had also heard Mu Qingqing’s order and made a hand gesture to her from a distance.
Mu Qingqing understood what the gesture meant. After all, she had been by Lin Mowei’s side for a long time.
The gesture meant: a solo raid. Wait for her to return before moving in.
A Space-Time Beacon was stabbed into the ground.
Lin Mowei bent her legs slightly as a faint blue stream of light began to radiate from the gaps in her Biological Armor.
The light at the core of her chest grew brighter bit by bit.
The armor was running at full power, and the Long Blade in her hand was coated in a faint halo of her energy.
“Prepare for the impact!”
Leaving those words behind, she exerted force with her legs, causing the ground beneath her to collapse.
She leaped into the swarm of beasts 50 meters away.
“Ah!…”
The Ability Users who had never fought alongside her were startled by this scene because such behavior was no different from seeking death.
However, those who remembered her ability showed gazes of admiration. She was a ruthless person—ruthless to her enemies and even more ruthless to herself.
Lin Mowei burst into the swarm. Her sword movements were simple and efficient.
Every slash would cleave a Rift Beast in half.
However, the corpses of the dead Rift Beasts did not fall. Instead, they rapidly expanded and cracked in the next instant, emitting an ominous red light.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Incessant self-detonations erupted all around her.
High temperatures, shockwaves, and shards of corrosive bone and shell struck her armor like a lethal rainstorm.
With every explosion, the energy shield on the armor’s surface flickered violently, adding a shallow mark to the armor plates.
She made no moves to evade. Or rather, her dodging was entirely for the sake of moving forward.
She tanked the explosions with her armor, using the shockwaves to propel herself several meters forward.
Simultaneously, she performed a backhand slash to split a Rift Beast lunging at her from the front.
The blast of air from the explosions made her stumble slightly, but her footsteps did not pause for even a second.
When she finally slaughtered her way through the dense, constantly self-detonating swarm to reach the heavily injured King Beast, her appearance could only be described as tragic.
The dark silver armor was now covered in scorch marks and damage. Her left shoulder was cracked, revealing the flesh structure beneath which was emitting electric sparks.
A large section of her right breastplate was dented, and the light from the energy core had dimmed considerably.
The joint armor on her legs was deformed in multiple places, emitting a piercing grinding sound as she moved.
Liquid leaked from the knuckles of the armor gripping the blade, as blood mixed with coolant slowly dripped down the sword’s body.
The faceplate was mostly shattered, revealing blood-streaked eyes. Every breath she took carried the scent of blood and gunpowder.
Yet, her gaze remained as sharp as a blade—even more intense than before.
Her hands were steady. The Long Blade, whose edge had numerous chips, was held firmly in her grip.
The tip of the blade did not tremble in the slightest as it pointed directly at the King Beast, which was still being frantically devoured by its own kind.
“Heh…” With a savage grin, she exerted force through her feet and launched one final charge.
She directly slammed through several Rift Beasts that lunged forward to block her, ignoring the explosions they triggered behind her.
Using the thrust of the explosions, she leaped up and stepped onto the King Beast’s battered, massive body.
The King Beast seemed to sense a fatal threat. It let out a roar mixed with pain and fury, its remaining limbs struggling to swat the tiny figure on its body.
Its remaining eyes stared fixedly at Lin Mowei. If she could understand them, she would have read the word ‘despair’ in them.
She gripped the hilt with both hands and raised it high. Blue-white streams of light converged from the cracks in her armor toward the blade.
The cold blade was reflected as bright as day.
“Try locking space on me again! You beast!” A hoarse roar erupted from her throat.
Without any hesitation, the Long Blade slashed down like thunder falling from the heavens!
The unstoppable force severed the King Beast’s massive head from its body. Dark blood sprayed high into the air, falling to the ground like rain.
The occurrence of this scene caused a split second of eerie silence to fall over the battlefield.
The massive body, having lost its head, twitched violently several times before crashing to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.
Lin Mowei panted slightly. She looked down at her own battered state and the blood-stained Long Blade in her hand.
She glanced at the remaining swarm, which had fallen into chaos due to the King Beast’s death, and let out a disdainful snort.
She raised her left hand, which wasn’t holding the blade, and made a clutching motion in the air.
Hum—
Starting from the King Beast’s corpse beneath her feet, an invisible spatial ripple suddenly expanded outward.
Time seemed to have been pressed with a rewind button.
Her figure began to flow backward and recede in a manner that defied common sense.
She flew backward along the blood-stained path she had carved out.
Armor fragments flew back from the surroundings; scorch marks faded, and cracks sealed themselves.
The leaking fluids flowed back into the joints.
Every internal injury, external wound, and trace of exhaustion on her body was forcibly “smoothed out” in this moment.
The ripples of time and space finally converged at the beacon standing quietly.
A flash of blue light occurred.
Lin Mowei appeared there completely intact.
The dark silver Biological Armor was as clean as new. The Long Blade in her hand carried not a single stain of blood.
Even her slightly hurried breathing returned to a steady rhythm the moment the reversal was complete.
If the cleared battlefield ahead hadn’t proven that what just happened wasn’t an illusion, everyone would have thought she had been standing there all along, never having moved.
Inside the command vehicle, Mu Qingqing looked at Lin Mowei standing proudly on the screen and subconsciously muttered.
“This is… the Flawless Valkyrie.”
From this point on, the title was fully deserved.